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Strife: The Greensleeves Murders/Issue 02
Issue 02 is the second issue of Case 01 of Strife: The Greensleeves Murders, It was written by CamTheWoot and was published on July 20th, 2014. ---- Issue 02 Previous: Issue 01 Next: Issue 03 ---- Lawrence ---- Lawrence noticed the rain, gently tapping on the hospital windows, as he followed Nancy. Pinehill was one of his least favorite places to be, it always was, you could hear the screams of patients echoing down every hallway, men and women forcing their weight against the doors to their cells, or 'rooms' as Pinehill staff called them. Vincent doesn't belong here, he thought to himself, his younger brother was no psychopath, no dangerous lunatic. For a 'paranoid schizophrenic' he was surprisingly civil. "So, any idea what's wrong with him?" Lawrence said to Nancy, as hey walked down the hallway, a flickering light irritated his eyes. "None," she replied gravely. "He checked himself in about half an hour ago, he said he was hallucinating." "Did he say what about?" "No, but we can assume it's no different that usual." She looked round at him, biting her lip, "it's Alice again, I'm sure." Lawrence sighed as Nancy pulled a key from her pocket and opened one of the doors. A small brittle looking man sat in the middle of the room, dressed in the white garbs all patients are forced to wear. He looked completely solemn, with long muddy brown hair over his over his gaunt, wrinkled face, his bright green eyes almost distracted Lawrence from his grey, flaked skin. "Hello Lawrence," the man murmured, looking up at the two of them, "Rowena." "Vincent, are you alright?" said Rowena entering the small room with the others. She and Lawrence sat on a small, undisturbed bed, facing their brother. The room itself was oddly clean, almost everything there was pure white. "Yes, quite," he replied sarcastically, before looking around the room. "Where's father? I assumed he'd be here." "Dad, couldn't make time," Rowena answered. Nodding to Nancy, as Vincent's nurse left the room. "Oh? Why not? Was he too busy stomping on daffodils or terrorizing children to make time for his favorite son?" "Speaking of which, where's Patrick? I thought he was here?" Lawrence asked. "Pat, went to make arrangements over my medication, I hear he wanted a word with Doctor Ashwood." "I'll have a look for him," Rowena said, standing up. She left the room shortly after, ignoring Vincent's request for her to stay. "So tell me Lawrence, where did I drag you from? Nothing important I hope," Vincent said, leaning back into his chair. Lawrence immediately recognized this as one of his brothers notoriously poor attempts at small talk. He decided to answer, even with the full knowledge that Vincent didn't care in the slightest. "I'm not actually allowed to divulge the details of what I was dragged from, I'm sure you understand." "Oh?" Vincent grinned with an eyebrow raised. The sickly looking shadow of a man continued to lean back and forth in his chair, with his feet resting on the bed, filling the room with an irritating creaking. "Now you've done nothing but raise my curiosity, what will it take to loosen that stiff upper lip of yours on the matter?" "That doesn't need to be discussed, what does is why you're here. Nancy says you've been hallucinating?" Vincent tutted with his finger wiggling back and forth in front of him. "And here's the leverage I wanted. You tell me about what you were pulled from, and I'll tell you about why I checked myself in." He finally leant forward, stopping that awful creaking. Although now he was uncomfortably close to Lawrence. "Deal?" He extended his hand to his brother. "Alright," Lawrence replied, shaking his brothers hand. His skin was oddly dry and rough, like sandpaper. "I'll ask you a question, then you ask me one. The game is over when one has learned all there is to know about the other. You can go first, if you'd like." "Alright," Lawrence said smirking as his younger brother leant back in his chair. "Why did you check yourself in?" "Because I felt it necessary," Vincent replied stiffly, much to Lawrence's distaste. "My turn, it's obvious you were investigating some form of case, but what did this case entail?" "A murder," Lawrence said, earning him an intrigued smile. He took a second to think carefully about his question, knowing Vincent would give him as little information as possible. "Say you were hallucinating, as Nancy said; what were you hallucinating about?" "What else but my daughter?" He whispered, for the first time since he arrived, Lawrence saw a speck of emotion in Vincent's emerald eyes, which disappeared with a silent cackle. "Now it's my turn again, what was the condition of the body?" "Why do you care?" "It's not your turn to ask questions!" Vincent snapped. "Now answer mine, if you will." Lawrence smirked and leant forward, mockingly emulating his brother. "I know nothing of the body, per se, we haven't found it yet." "Haven't found it yet?" Vincent, shook his head. "Then how do you know it's a murder?!" "It's not your turn to ask questions," Lawrence chuckled. Never had he seen his brother glare at him like he did in those moments. "I thought your tablets were meant to stop you from hallucinating, why aren't you taking them?" "I'd rather not," Vincent grinned, "Now, it's my turn again. You said you had no body, but yet you say you know there was a murder. Now, the fact that there has been no reports on said murder means it happened today, quite recently in fact. So it happened today and you have no body... yet you're sure it's a murder." "Quite sure." "This leads me to think that you're trying to be clever with your words, perhaps using 'body' as a synonym for torso?" Vincent stroked his chin, with a fire in his eyes. "You found a body part, but it must have been something important, otherwise you would assume assault - not murder. Okay Lawrence I have my question, what state was the head in?" How the hell did he do that? Lawrence thought do himself, trying his best not to exclaim it. "Very good, it was in emasculate condition, not a scratch on it, clean cut." "I'm assuming this is confidential? Strictly between you and I?" "It is. It's also my turn." Lawrence muttered, resting his head on his hand. He stared at his brother for what seemed like years, not once did Vincent bat an eye, he just glared back at him, like a stone statue. He's smarter than me, Lawrence though to himself. I need to force a leak of information, he continued to look at Vincent in the corner, cross-legged and cross-armed, inaudibly mumbling to himself. "Alright Vincent," Lawrence said, earning Vincent's notice - to an extent, his brothers lazy left eye still gave an illusion of inattention. "What did you report to Nancy when you got here, Pinehill is an expensive place, she wouldn't have just let you in if you weren't feeling well." Vincent stopped his personal whispering and even gave a short applause. "Oh well done," he said sardonically, "You win." He brushed aside his hair, grinning, flashing a row of decayed teeth. "I told her that everywhere I go, I see Alice, hiding in the shadows, always in the corner of my eye, but always in sight. She always was clever like that." "Aren't you taking your medication?" "You know very well I'm not," Vincent snarled. "Don't you remember what happened when I took them last?" "Of course I do." "Then you wouldn't even consider asking me to take them." Lawrence got up and walked to the door, opening it. "Vincent I have one last question for you, before I go to look for Patrick, if you don't mind?" "Of course not," he replied, moving over to the now empty bed. He laid down on it, letting out a great exhale. "If you wont take your medication, what's the point of coming here? They can't do much to help you if you wont help yourself." Vincent stared up at the ceiling, Lawrence could see Vincent's eyes, almost shaking in position. "Nancy has a beautiful singing voice, you know?" His voice was monotone and broken, like a croak. "There's something to be said for a light like that in a dark place like this, it's soothing, no?" "Is that why you come here?" Lawrence asked. "So Nancy can sing to you?" "I'm a social creature, I know Alice isn't with me, but we get lonely on our own. I don't think you can understand what it's like to hear a tune that isn't hers." "Isn't who's?" Lawrence said, sitting where Vincent sat before. The chair was warm, Vincent had been sitting there for hours. "Nancy's?" "Alice," he said gravely. "She's always singing, every second of every day, I can't sleep, I can't think, she's always there." He gave a small grin as he finally turned to look at Lawrence, his long face had a look of surprising sincerity on it, odd for such a tricky man. "She's right next to you now." "She's not, I'm sorry but she's in your head." "I know that, you fucking lunk." Vincent sighed, "I do have a head on my shoulders. That's why I'm here, not so Nancy can sing to me, so I can be distracted. God knows you lot aren't going to visit me and take my mind off her." "That's not fair." "Life isn't fair, if it was I'd be in my office right now and Anabel would be picking Alice up from school. What a world we'd live in if everything was fair." Vincent gave a short laugh, "God it would be boring." "Boring?" Lawrence said with an eyebrow raised. "Is that what you call happiness?" "There's a fun balance to life, a good and a bad, you need both to make life interesting, it just so happens I got more bad than good." He gave a swift grin as he turned aware from Lawrence. "At least they spared me the ugly." Even Lawrence cracked a smile there, shaking his head, "You best not keep Ashwood waiting," Vincent mumbled. "He's an impatient man and I'm sure he's zealous to discuss some medication I'm not going to take with you." Lawrence walked to the door again, as he opened it he heard a soft tune echo behind him. A quiet melody, he recognized it as Greensleeves, no mistake about it. He turned to his brother, calmly whistling in his bed, paying more attention to bare feet resting against the wall than he was to Lawrence. With the sweat wiped off his brow he left the room and closed the door behind him, it clicked as the automatic lock fell in place. I've had enough of that song today, he though to himself, as he walked away from his brothers cell. He heard mumbling coming from the end of the hallways, Rowena and Patrick - their youngest brother. "What's going on?" Lawrence asked. Rowena and Patrick were arguing with a short, portly man. With an old striped, white shirt, barely covering himself, hastily tucked into his dusty brown trousers. He had short brown hair, the color of beach-wood, unfitting for his name, that Lawrence read as "Charles Ashwood" from his nametag. "Good morning Mister Myers," Ashwood said politely, even bowing his head. His manner didn't account for his high pitch gravely voice. "I was just explaining your brothers medication change to your siblings." "That's a rich word for it!" Patrick rasped, "he wants Vincent on Perphenazine." "Vincent will be fine with it Doctor Myers, it will not effect him in the slightest." "Yes of course," Patrick replied sarcastically. "As long as you don't count, permanent, incurable Dyskinesia as something ti be concerned about, we're all set!" Patrick was red faced, it seemed unfitting for him. Such a small man, the shortest there, with a child's face loosing his cool so easily. Lawrence could help but chuckle internally, as he realized Patrick in his black suit, looked like a small boy wearing his fathers clothes. "Surely there's an alternative?" Rowena said, lacking any care in her tone. Lent on the wall, clearly bored. "There is none," Ashwood replied. "I don't think you understand what kind of condition your brother is in, it's been almost a year since he's taken any form of medication. I'm sorry to be the barer of bad news but that man is falling apart." He squished his plump fingers together in front of his face, leaving a tiny gap in-between. "He is this close to a straitjacket and padded walls, we've had to take his glasses away from him in fear he'll misuse them somehow." There was a silence in the room after that, Patrick didn't look angry anymore, just depressed. "Vincent is becoming a danger to himself and those around him, the only person here he'll speak to is Nancy - which doesn't help." "Is there nothing you can do for him?" Lawrence asked. "Yes, he can take the medication I prescribe him. I'll need the three of you to sign it off, after that we'll have to get it into him, if he wont take it willingly, we'll put him on a drip." "Alright," Rowena said, finally paying some form of attention. "Give me something to sign and I'll sign it." "I will too," Lawrence added. After that it was just Patrick, the three of them looked at him, nervously brushing his fingers through is neat black hair. "Alright," he sighed. "I'll sign it." To be continued... ---- Characters ---- Lawrence Myers Rowena Myers Nancy Brodmir Vincent Myers Patrick Myers Charles Ashwood Alice Myers (Mentioned) Arthur Myers (Mentioned) Anabel Myers (Mentioned) ---- Deaths ---- None. ---- Trivia ---- First appearance of Vincent Myers First appearance of Patrick Myers. First appearance of Charles Ashwood. Category:Issues Category:Strife: The Greensleeves Murders Issues Category:Strife: The Greensleeves Murders Category:Strife Issues Category:Strife Category:Pestilence Category:CamTheWoot